oh em gee

No beach. I stayed up until 4am and woke up at 12:30pm and felt like crap. Yay!

Today I Skyped Amital and Josh. This is the first time I've used Skype for non internship-related things all summer. Lame, I know.

I wanted to share this site with you: http://myparentsjoinedfacebook.com/. I emailed it to my parents. I really hope they understand why it's funny. I'm still not making my Facebook profile public/available for their viewing pleasure.

Before I pass out from exhaustion, I want to talk about Gmail's mail goggles. Basically, you set it up so that at a certain time on certain days (Friday and Saturday nights from 1am-6am for me...I guess that's Saturday and Sunday mornings...even though I'm more of a Thursday/Saturday drinker, courtesy of CUMB), you have to do math problems for your email to send.

I do send emails when I'm drunk. The thing is, they're for legit things. Because when I get home and am sufficiently drunk (or actually, on any night, regardless of my level of sobriety), I can't fall asleep right away, so I check my email. And if I think it's important enough, I send the emails then, too. (I'll let you guess if I've ever emailed you while I've been drunk. Most likely, I haven't.)

In the future, I'll probably just save the emails as drafts. But I've been debating whether or not to keep my mail goggles. 90%+ of the time, I'm not remotely drunk at those hours of the day/night, and I actually trust myself to send legitimate emails when I am. That's what spellcheck is for, afterall.

Better safe than sorry, I guess. Sometime, I might want to send a ridiculous email and forget that my graphing calculator is within arm's reach. Or I might forget how to use it. I doubt that. I'm a very high-functioning drunk person. But still.

IM goggles might be useful. Not phone/texting goggles. I've never been into that. Except texting CUMB-related quotes. I'm pretty good at that, and I have remarkably good spelling skills.

What Gmail should really do is play movies whenever I try to send emails while drunk. This will keep me occupied long enough to make me tired.

Example: One time, I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button while I was drunk. I remember all of the movie...and I don't think being drunk made it trippy, because the beginning of the movie was weird enough.

In conclusion, Gmail rocks and I will continue to use its mail goggles feature. So if you ever get an email from me over the weekend in the wee hours of the morning, feel special, because I had to do math in order to send it.

And that is all.

cereal rocks

I think I have found my most favorite cereal ever here. It is called Cariot. I'm not really sure how to translate that best, as the Translating Gods each have their own definition. Basically, it's a wheat-based squares with either vanilla or chocolate cream in them. It works both as a breakfast cereal (I mix it with cornflakes) or as a dessert. I thought I should share that with you.

I think that I might FINALLY drag my pale-skinned self to the beach tomorrow. I know, you are surprised! I'm just not really a beach person. But I need to take more pictures for my family, and the beach is as good a place as any to do that.

Plus, if I don't go to the beach, I might just bum around all day, and that's what Shabbat is for!

So...yeah.

Let's get stereotypical!

In our joint post, Hilary mentioned that there is to stereotypical Israeli.

Unfortunately, that's not true.

It's easy to see how someone could think this, based on the places Hilary and I went. The areas I frequent in Jerusalem--the Central Bus Station, the walk from the Jerusalem Post to my apartment (with stops in the shuk and Ben Yehuda St.)--these are places frequented by Anglos (as well as...everyone else). Many of the olim, the immigrants who come to Israel to make it their home, are of European descent. Were we to go to less affluent areas, the racial demographic would be very different.

The Ashkenazic (people of eastern European descent) Jews in Israel have the monopoly. Israel has racism, just like pretty much every other country. Pale skin might not be natural to the area, but it elevates its bearer to a certain status. Then there are the Jews of Middle Eastern descent. Upon arrival in Israel, many of these people were given second-rate jobs, because they were considered, as a whole, less intelligent.

It is possible to argue that some of these people did not recieve stellar educations. In this case, I shall compare them to American Jews. As a whole, Jews in America prefer to live in large cities or suburbs of large cities. (With the exception of Johnson City, TN, where I was born, my life has mirrored this trend...I've also lived in suburbs of Philadelphia and Chicago and am now at school in NYC.) These areas tend to have decent school systems. And for the areas that don't, there are still outside resources.

The same cannot be said for areas of the Middle East. While many Jews did live in large cities (Alexandria, Egypt, for example, before they were essentially expelled), they represented a religious minority, which posed problems that aren't as present in the United States.

First semester of freshman year, my Medieval Jewish History teacher told the class that medieval Jewish history is defined as the period in time when Jews were ruled by other religions. A time when religion was synonymous with politics. I know that this is a generalization, but for the purposes of this blog, it will suffice, because in the Middle East, Islam rules in a way that Christianity no longer does in the majority of the West.

It is for reasons such as this that many Jews in other Middle Eastern countries left. And now, many of them are second class citizens in a country where they are part of the religious powerhouse.

It's ironic, because these people represent the physical appearane of the "stereotypical Israeli".

There are also the Ethiopian Jews. Airlifted to Israel, they had to walk away from essentially everything. And there are generational rifts. The children who don't remember (or barely remember) living in Ethiopia are assimilating in a way that their parents can't. There are societal problems. Clashes.

This is an oversimplified explanation of the ethnic societal tensions in Israel. It does not include hard facts and sources, but this blog isn't really a hard facts and sources kind of blog. It's a blog where I get to ramble about the things I'm thinking about. It's also supposed to include the ridiculous things that I say/encounter when nobody else is around. And it will. But probably not until I get back to the States, because I try not to stick out too much here.

It's sad, I know. I mean, I have a reputation to uphold. In theory.

Balls.

la de dah

And now, on to other things!

JPost internship: I am really enjoying my time here. I've gotten lots of writing opportunities, and the other interns are cool. I know that I don't want to go into journalism, but this is still a fun/good experience. Also, it's in Israel, which makes it even more awesome. If I was doing this in Chicago/NYC/Washington (god forbid), it wouldn't be nearly as cool.

Thursday os Tisha B'Av. It's the 9th day of the month of Av, and it is when the Temples were officially destroyed. (I forget the year the First Temple was destroyed, but the Second Temple was destroyed in 70CE.)

It's a fast day. I've only ever observed the fast while I'm in Israel. It feels more meaningful here. (Also, I don't really keep track of the Hebrew calendar, so I tend to forget when it is when I'm at home and not surrounded by other people who will be fasting.)

On Friday, I will try and drag my ass to Tel Aviv and go to the beach...finally. Also to Nachalat Binyamin, the artists' market. I like this plan. I want to get rid of my farmer's tan and be evenly sunburnt. I also want to go into a body of water that I can legitimately swim in.

On Saturday I will sleep/bum around because that's all there is to do. Also because I want to. Sort of.

And tomorrow I am getting fro-yo and going grocery shopping. I like this plan.

recap, etc.

Sunday morning, I woke up a little before 6am to let Hilary out of the aparment. You see, the door does not automatically lock. Someone needs to physically lock it with the key. This is fantastic for me, because I tend to forget my keys...it's basically impossible for me to lock myself out of the apartment! (Unless I'm on the balcony and the door slams shut, but we won't dwell too long on that.) So I unlocked/locked the door for Hilary and then went back to bed.

Hilary's liturgy service was supposed to start at 7am. I planned to wake up at 10 and then catch the bus to the Central Bus Station, where I would meet Hilary and we would leave for the Dead Sea.

Hilary called me around 9am to let her in. It turns out that there was no Greek Orthodox service at 7am, so Hilary stuck around for a Catholic mass, then went to check out the Kotel/Western Wall. She was equipped with all of my maps (I have a map of Jerusalem that also has a close-up of the Old City, a big map of Israel that also has a small map of Jerusalem (not as good as the Jerusalem-only map, and a guide book with a map of the Old City that also has all the main sites), so she managed just fine.

We chilled for a little and then boarded a bus to the Central Bus Station, in hopes of catching the 11am bus to Ein Gedi, which is where part of the Dead Sea beachfront is. However, the bus was mad crowded, so we went to the ticket booth and bought tickets, then waited for the 12pm bus.

On the bus, we sat in front of some annoying/dumb Orthodox girls. Here are some of the conversations we heard:

-"We are in the land of Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father). HaShem (God) gave the land to Avraham, Yitzhak (Isaac), Ya'akov (Jacob), and Klal Yisrael (all of [the people of] Israel!"

-"I am petrified to go in Yam HaMelach (Dead Sea, but it literally means Sea of Salt) during the 9 days...simply petrified! (During the first 9 days of the Jewish month of Av, there are restrictions on what observant Jews can do. During this time, the First and Second Temples were destroyed (obviously a few centuries apart), and it's a period of light mourning. People don't go to movies and they don't eat meat. The holiday that is most similar to this is Lent.)

-(We passed some palm trees with bags covering their fruit to protect them from the sun) "I didn't know that bananas grew on trees! I thought it was only coconuts!" (They were actually dates, which are a popular produce in this part of the world.)

There were many other conversations. All of these were carried out VERY QUICKLY and in "Jewish" accents. Not quite Brooklyn...just Jewish. It was ridiculous and they were really annoying. Hilary and I exchanged many looks during the bus ride.

Open note to all Orthodox people: I know that in general, you guys are way more awesome/knowledgeable/savvy than those girls.

Anyways, we finally got to the Dead Sea! We changed in the locker room (after paying 2 shekel to get in) and headed down to the beach. In the locker room, a girl imprinted on Hilary. I say it like that because she was 8-10, but seemed a little off. Granted, English was her second language (Hungarian is her first), so that could be the issue. At any rate, her grandma couldn't go in the Dead Sea, so she seemed to think it was okay to have her granddaughter bug us. Of course, Hilary was much better about it than I was. I didn't feel like babysitting someone's kid for free. I'm just not as nice a person as Hilary, I guess. I'm okay with that.

The beack was really rocky. We left backpacks on the nearby rocks and our sandals close to the water (or so we thought), and carefully made our way into the water.

Time for an educational lesson about the Dead Sea! The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth. It's at least 400m below sea level. Water runs from Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee for you out of the loop Christian folk) in the north of Israel, down through the Jordan River. Along the way, it collects minerals. It then comes to the Dead Sea and because the Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, the water has nowhere to do. It evaporates, leaving the minerals behind. (It is theorized that the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah happened nearby...Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, the Dead Sea is full of salt...)

Because of the extremely high salt content, you float in the Dead Sea. Seriously. You basically just sit in the water. You can't splash people and you can't get your head underwater. We lazed around, and I tried to find a cool spot in the water, which sadly didn't happen. It was cool, and I only stung a little bit! (This is a big deal for me because I have eczema, and my skin is really sensitive...in the winter, my skin gets extremely dry. In junior high, the skin between my fingers got weird and I was convinced that I was mutating into some sort of lizard freak, which made sense, because I was an unpopular kid in junior high.)

Sadly, Hilary got the water in her eyes and that basically ended it for us. Besides, you can't really stay in the water for TOO long (we were in for less than an hour), because you get seriously dehydrated. So we made our way to the shore. After spotting our sandals, I went to retrieve them. The rocks were REALLY hot. It was an ordeal. But I survived. We rinsed off (yay for liquid soap as shampoo!) and returned to Jerusalem.

Sadly, I had to do video editing for the Jerusalem Post, so we went there. It just so happens to be less than 10 minutes from the Central Bus Station. I did the video editing and poor Hilary had to move from chair to chair as the Internet staff kept needing different computers. I finished at 7pm, and Hilary and I walked to the shuk to go to the most awesome Indian restaurant ever. It's a hole-in-the-wall (literally) place that serves vegetarian Indian food. You pick the number/size of vegetable dishes that you want, and they bring them along with daal, rice, naan, and the little relishes. We got small bowls of all 4 of the vegetable dishes, and they all rocked. We then walked to Ben Yehuda St to get more of the World's Most Awesome Fro-Yo. Srsly. I will miss that stuff when I go back home. I think I'll walk home from work tomorrow and treat myself to some!

We then got back to my apartment and hung out. Then, the next morning, Hilary left. Her bus to Eilat went smoothly (I think), but the 12:30pm bus from Taba to Cairo broke down, so she had to wait for hte 4:30. But she got back okay (after losing her Egypt cell phone, or so I'm told), and will be returning to the US shortly.

Today at work, I translated a Hebrew survey and its summary into English. Before you get all impressed by my fancy Hebrew skills, wait. Google translator works wonders. And when it doesn't, morfix.co.il does. Also my Google homepage. When the sentence structure is wonky (I love that word!), I read through the sentences and then translate them myself.

The survey was about Israeli Jews and their levels of Judaic knowledge. 500 people were separated by level of observance and asked about their level of knowledge, their children's level, and their parents' level. Basically, secular Israelis are slowly becoming less knowledgeable, while religious and Ultra Orthodox (haredi) Jews are becoming more knowledgeable. Basically, the data wasn't exactly surprising. But I found the study interesting (though the wording was really repetitive), and I was glad to use my Hebrew skills...if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had a story to work on. I felt useful!

sad revelation

I think I'm significantly funnier when I'm a "guest contributor" on Hilary's blog, and for this I am very sorry.

Part of the reason is because I enjoy writing funny things and watching Hilary's reaction. The other part of the reason is because it's easier for me to feed off of the things she writes.

In short, it's hard to be funny when I'm by myself. Because I can't hear/see anyone laughing. Alas.

Until recently, I had achieved a near-impossible feat. After a year of sharing a room with two girls (and we shared the common room with another girl) and a year of having a room in a hallway where one can hear ANYTHING that's going on, I had never overheard people having sex. I was very proud of this fact. Sadly, my overhearing other people having sex virginity is gone, and I told Amital that I'm going to knock on her door if she is ever too loud when she's doing it. She only thought this was a little funny...and that's because she believes that I might actually do it.

So I decided on an excellent rule for my Goldsmith apartment: If my hookup/relationship life is barren, I have no desire to hear yours. Well, I never have a desire to hear anyone's, but I can promise that I'll be a hell of a lot more tolerant. If said hookup/relationship life is barren, I have no qualms about hearing about other people (not the details, though...that'd be weird), I just don't want to actually hear it. Because then I will feel lame.

In intern-related news, I wrote and submitted the brief and translated a weirdly-phrased Hebrew passage and turned it into a photo caption. Thank you, JTS Hebrew reading and oral/aural classes. You taught me how to use Gooogle translator and Morfix.

alas

This morning at 6:07am, Hilary boarded a bus for the Central Bus Station and should be nearing Eilat right about now. It was great to have a visitor! It's proof that I can be hospitable when I want to, I guess.

This morning was slightly hectic. Apparently my roommate was woken up at 5am for the past 2 days in a row. (Hilary had to get up early on Sunday for church and today to catch the bus.) Personally, I think the problem centers on the fact that my roommate's room is right next to the bathroom, so if the toilet is flushed, she can theoretically hear it. There have been times when I've had to answer nature's call at 3am and have been afraid to flush. Srsly. But I do, because I don't want to get a talk about bathroom cleanliness...that would be bad.

So to make up for all of that, I made sure to wash (most of) my dishes and take out the trash. I also had to "organize" my room (throw all the clothes laying around in my suitcase and put Hilary's bedding in my laundry bag) because my roommate is having someone come to look at the apartment, for after I leave. The person is arriving "around 6 or 7", so in case that's before I get home, at least the room is presentable. I do need to properly organize things, though. Blech. At least it won't take long.

I think my roommate and I get along well. I think there might be some things that I do that annoy her, I'm not sure. I should probably vaccuum and take out the trash more often. I feel like things build up, and it's difficult to bring them up. At any rate, I'm only here for 3 more weeks.

I should clarify. It's not an uncomfortable living situation, and I do like my roommate. I just feel bad. I mean, it is her apartment. I'm paying rent for 11 weeks, but it's her apartment.

I think living with Amital and Lauren this upcoming year will go a lot smoother. Amital and I shared a room freshman year and a kitchen freshman and sophomore years. This won't be that different. And Lauren is cool and easygoing, so things should work out well.

Today when I got to work (a few minutes after 10...I was proud of myself), I was afraid that I would get crap for skipping yesterday/not telling the editor I wasn't coming in. As far as I'm concerned, it's not their job to babysit the interns, and I've never missed for non work-related things. It turns out that there were no stories yesterday, so I missed nothing. (Dead Sea/etc. post to come!)

Today, the head intern/editor liaison came in to tell us that the editor wants us to pitch 2 "solid" stories to him per day, that for the number of interns, not enough content is being produced. Frankly, I think they should have accepted at least 5 fewer interns. (Hopefully that doesn't mean I'd be out of an internship...I was accepted on New Years Day.) So I pitched a story and have a brief (250-300 words) to write.

Which is what I've been working on today.

Good day to you, ladies and gentlemen! It is my distinct privilege, pleasure, and honor to return once again to address you. I hope that you have all been enjoying the relaxation and recreation inherent to the summer months, and...

PSYCH!

Hey! It's Hilary again, back to contribute to another super-awesome co-authored blog. This time, Sarah and I have switched things up - after a long hard summer in Cairo (right), I'm enjoying a weekend in Jerusalem with her! It's been great, and I'm thrilled to be able to offer some (hopefully amusing) insight about this fantastic place.

Because good things come in pairs. Except for threesomes. And orgies. And...yeah.

ANYWAYS...

Moving forward with our lives!

RULES TO FOLLOW:

1. When you’re at the border, remember to change some money at customs. Otherwise, you get to be cool like me and walk a couple of kilometers to get to the nearest ATM before taking a taxi wherever you need to go. It was fun, and the weather was gorgeous, but in general, it’s a poor life choice.

2. Parts of Israel (the southern portion) are almost as hot as Cairo. Sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats are highly recommended! Or you can just wear sunscreen, like we did when we went to the Dead Sea. Or you can follow none of those rules, which is what I do in my day-to-day life here. However, when I travel, I always pack a hat and sunscreen…for just in case. You should do the same!

I packed a hat because I’m awesome, and then I didn’t wear it at all, because I’m way awesome. I also broke my sunglasses the week before I came here. I’m not very good at this whole sun thing. Maybe I should move to Antarctica. Except apparently you can sunburn there, too. Washington State, perhaps? Anyway.

Is it sad that the first thing I thought when I saw “Washington State” was “Zomg! Twilight!”? Absolutely. Do I care? Absolutely not.

Dude, where do you think I got it from in the first place?

(It’s nice to know that we’re both thirteen-year-old girls at heart. But not in mind. Or body. Whoo!)

Because that wasn’t disturbing or anything. Thanks, Sarah!

But we digress.

3. Be circumspect in your photography. Don’t use your camera in Jewish neighborhoods on Shabbat. Also, don’t use it at Customs. In fact, no matter where you pull it out, unless it’s a blatantly tourist-y site, you’re going to get stared at. Unless it’s the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which case, despite the fact that it’s full of tourists, the monks are still going to give you dirty looks.

4. Be aggressive! Got to be aggressive! Got to b-e a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e! People in Israel are very pushy in general. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that a lot of them are assholes. And some of them are. But that’s beside the point. Sure, you’re a tourist, but as long as you aren’t being obnoxious, don’t let people push you around!

Don’t let the veneer of Westernization fool you. At heart, the Middle Eastern “push-your-way-forward-in-life” philosophy still dominates here. It can be very off-putting and intimidating. Don’t let it stop you!

5. Get a change purse. I didn’t, and it was probably a bad choice. Israeli money relies on a lot of change – they don’t have any bills smaller than twenty shekels (around five dollars), and if you’re poking through your wallet, it can be hard to distinguish them, even if you know which is which in theory. (The fact that they’re all different sizes does help a little.)

If you’re me, you need an explanation anyway. My explanation: ask Sarah!

If you’re not visiting a person familiar with the currency, make sure to look it up in advance and find out the exchange rate.

6. Clothes. Us pale-skinned folks don’t stick out in Jerusalem nearly as much as we do in Cairo. There are a LOT of American tourists in Israel during the summer. So you won’t get stared at all the time if you’re not swarthy. One thing you MUST keep in mind is that Jerusalem is considered (by many) a holy city. There are a lot of Orthodox Jews walking around. Some of the Ultra Orthodox Jews don’t take kindly to us scantily-clad ladies (there’s a double standard where guys don’t get crap, even though according to Jewish law, they should)…I know people who have been spit at and called whores for wearing modest t-shirts and knee-length skirts. There is religious tension between religious and secular Jews. However, unless you are in an Orthodox neighborhood, such as Mea Shearim, you do not need to worry about what you are wearing…though you should still be protecting yourself from the sun. In Orthodox neighborhoods, girls should wear shirts that cover their collar bones and elbows and skirts that cover their knees.

Also, in general, don’t dress super scantily (by Western standards), because I will judge you.

I might too. But only a little.

7. More money talk! Don’t let the prices scare you. I did get scared a little, because I went from Cairo, where a subway ticket costs ~19¢, lunch costs a dollar, and a long taxi ride might cost three bucks, to Jerusalem, where a bus ride costs $1.50 and a full, reasonably-priced meal is around $8 – in short, European or urban American prices. Plan for a little more expensive than you’re used to. But it’s ok(ish), because you’re traveling, and that costs money!

Well, unless you’re me and you have to get through another month and then buy textbooks. Then you will be cool and cheap. But that’s almost more fun.

I should clarify. Things in Israel are cheaper than NYC, but more expensive than Cairo. Cairo is a huge city that is scaled differently. In general, Israel is a relatively Westernized country, Jerusalem in particular. Anyways, unlike Cairo, you should try to take the bus in Israel as much as possible. I bought a monthly bus pass, and for around $58, I can ride any Jerusalem bus an unlimited number of times. It’s cheaper than a cab, which isn’t that much cheaper than in NYC (though you don’t tip).

8. Bring a map. Actually, bring two. You can get reliable maps of Israel, because it’s so Westernized (thank God! You can’t really get a good, complete map of Cairo, weirdly enough), and especially when you’re in the Old City, YOU WANT A MAP. You want a map BADLY. In fact, we had two maps (three, actually), and it still took us forty-five minutes to find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But, once I knew where I was going, it took me ten minutes this morning to walk from there to the Western Wall. See? Useful? And then I was able to get back to the apartment all by myself, checking my way on the map…I was so proud.

Moral of the story: maps save your life.

Barring that, GPS is good too. This is why I love my iPhone.

My dad has GPS on his phone. We call if the Traffic Bitch. This isn’t really relevant.

9. As Sarah pointed out with Cairo, it’s really helpful to have someone who can show you around. You don’t have to speak Hebrew to manage here – most people speak English quite well – but it’s nice to have that. It was also helpful for things like the bus system, and the grocery store, and the restaurant we went to tonight (which was this awesome hole-in-the-wall Indian place in the shouk that I never would have found on my own). Travel with a friend who knows what the bloody hell they’re doing. Your life will be so much easier.

Many people in Israel speak English to a certain degree (they start learning it around 4th grade), but many of them will just start talking to you in Hebrew. My Hebrew is FAR from perfect, but for the small converstations, it’s easier to have them in Hebrew, especially when asking for directions or having someone explain a dish…in general, they will go faster. (It also helps if you know what Indian food looks like.)

And people don’t automatically assume that you’re a tourist, as they generally do in Cairo. There are a lot of ex-pats living here, and there isn’t really a visual/physically stereotype for the average Israeli. So it makes sense, but it makes it hard sometimes. Be prepared to smile a lot. And if you’re me, speak slowly. Very slowly. If you’re learning Hebrew, though – great! It’s a good chance for you to practice! Now if only I could do that more in Cairo…

I need to jump in here. There actually is a stereotype for what Israelis look like. Sort of swarthy, dark hair. Very Mizrachi (Middle Eastern Jews). However, with the influx of immigrants from Ashkenazic (Eastern Europe) backgrounds, this stereotype is somewhat watered down. While someone at the Jerusalem Post (the newspaper I intern at) commented on the color/lightness of my hair, I’ve seen girls with actual red hair (not auburn, like mine). It’s not that unusual.

I won’t go into this more here...this sort of discussion will have to wait for a later post.

In the meantime, that's all from me, folks. Thanks for putting up with my (hopefully not-too-inane) ramblings; with any luck, you've actually enjoyed them!

At any rate, she's much more proper than I am...it's a nice break, I'm sure. :P

Yeah, that alone must be a relief for you guys! Anyway, if you liked it so much that you want more, please feel free to stop by and read about my adventures in Cairo and elsewhere at http://www.repeatinginshallah.wordpress.com. I'm told it's pretty awesome. But you should find out for yourself! Thanks for reading.

P.S. Me and Hilary have been having the most awesome slumber party. We're sharing my bed. You KNOW you're curious...

(...the bed is twice the width of the JTS beds (twin extra-long), so it's actually not scandalous...)

P.P.S. I'm a goody-two-shoes Orthodox Christian girl. Damn straight it isn't scandalous!! I have a reputation to uphold!

P.P.P.S. If you're NOT a goody-two-shoes Orthodox Christian girl, let me know! ;)

P.P.P.P.S. Preferably without letting me hear about it. (Please, God, let it be without me hearing about it.)

hurrah!

Hilary is here! She is sleeping now. I should be too, because it is 2am here.

She was supposed to come on Thursday evening, but there were bus issues and instead, she spent the night at a hostel in Eilat (the one I stayed in when I was en route to visiting her), and arrived at 11am on Friday morning. After a quick lunch (shwarma is awesome) at the Central Bus Station, we walked back to my apartment. On the way, we stopped at this FANTASTIC frozen yogurt place on Ben Yehuda St. You pick a cup, they fill the cup with the ingredients of your choice, and then they mix it with the yogurt. I would have no trouble giving up real ice cream if I could have that stuff instead.

We arrived at my apartment, dropped our bags off, and made a quick stop to the grocery store to buy food for the weekend, since things are closed on Shabbat. We relaxed, made dinner, watched TV, and slept.

...and woke up at 12:30pm! Good lord, that was fantastic. We ended up walking to the Old City, in search of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It should have been easy. But of course, it wasn't. We searched for WAY TOO LONG, but we eventually found it! We took pictures, and I was reminded of ArtHum...but the summer has been good to me, so there was minimal cringing on my part. I posed by a big mosaic that had a skull...which was right over my head. I wanted to make the horns with my hand and have a badass pose, but Hilary didn't think it was appropriate. And I listened.

Speaking of that--Hilary's parents think that I am a good influence on her! Of course, I thought this was hysterical. But then, my parents consider me parental supervision for them, so I guess anything is possible. This proves that when necessary, I can act like a mature, competent person.

Anyways, we explored the church and went into the sepulchre. I think it had Joseph's tomb. Hilary lit a candle and said prayers. The other people inside said prayers. I stood there and hoped that the people wouldn't notice that I wasn't crossing myself or anything.

We then walked home. It took 45 minutes total, and only 15 to leave the Old City. We were wandering around in there for well over an hour. Yeah.

After some relaxing and hydrating...and waiting for Shabbat to be over (we got home at 5pm, and things don't start up again until well after 8pm), we caught a bus to Malcha Mall...to see Harry Potter! I haven't seen a HP movie in theaters in years...because I couldn't deal with the fact that the movies are so different from the books. But I've decided to get over that.

At the movie theater, the seats are assigned, so we bought our tickets together. And then waited and waited and waited and waited for the people to open the doors so we could enter concessions and the movie theater. It was silly.

There weren't many previews, the annoying Israeli teenagers were loud and didn't turn off their cell phones, the screen wasn't as big as the ones in the States, and there was an intermission. Other than that, it was just like seeing a movie in the US.

As for the movie, it was good. When Ginny knelt to tie Harry's shoe, a lot of the people in the theater started laughing. Even I wasn't going to laugh! In conclusion, the annoying Israeli teenagers are even less mature than I am. Weird.

We caught a cab home (since it was around 1am when we got out), and now I'm about to head off.

Tomorrow (or rather, later today), Hilary is waking up super early for services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which start at 7am. Then, I am meeting her at the Central Bus Station, and we are going to the Dead Sea! We're going to get all covered in mud and float around. It'll be super. Later, I will take Hilary to my Place of Internship, because I need to go in and do video editing. Then we'll walk back home (and get frozen yogurt on the way!) and you shall be treated to another co-written blog post.

But right now, I'm going to bed.

QUESTION!

http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Vey-Shiksas-Dating-Jewish/dp/0689878893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid

When I read the title, I got a kick out of it, but also felt a little awkward...shiksa is a derogatory term for a woman who isn't Jewish (goy is the male version), and depending on the context, it can actually be very mean. But that's beside the point.

All my life, Judaism has been a very big part of who I am. Even when I don't go to services or keep Shabbat, I'm very aware of it. And I know it's also a huge cultural thing. The only time I've ever lived in a place that didn't have a whole lot of Jews was when my parents and I were in Tennessee, and that was when I was a baby, so I don't remember it. Yardley, PA is a suburb of Philly, so I'm assuming there are a decent amount of Jews there, and Highland Park, IL has a very large Jewish community. Obviously NYC is...NYC. And I chose JTS because I wanted to be with other Jews who care about being Jewish, regardless of how religious they are.

While I went to public school and have been exposed to other religions, Judaism has always been so predominant in the places that I've lived, and I'm not really aware of the stereotypes that go along with other religions. Is there a book like this for dating Christians? Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists?

And is it as tongue in cheek? I wonder.

Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?

If I was one of the characters in Friends, y'all KNOW I'd be Phoebe. 'Nuff said.

I like to think of myself as an animal lover. I come from a family that acknowledges the fact that we like animals way better than people. My parents were having a play date with my best friend's parents. His dad is allergic to lots of animals, so said best friend didn't grow up with pets. At all. My mom spent at least a minute bemoaning this.

Growing up, I was lucky. Not only did I grow up with a wonderfully dysfuncitonal family that made high school and freshman year of college very interesting...not only was I allowed a large amount of relative freedom (Curfew? What curfew? Not that I stayed out late often...or did anything to make my parents not trust me...I saved all that stuff for college.)...but I grew up with a plethora of pets.

There have been a total of 3 dogs (dogs are the most awesome animals ever, as long as they are not jack russell terriers, beagles, little yappy dogs, or dogs whose breed is notorious for being boring), many fish (my sister and I would give them first names, middle names, nicknames, and Hebrew names...I'm pretty sure the Hebrew names weren't actually Hebrew)--including one goldfish named Chuckie who lived for over 2 years and a goldfish who started out black-colored...we named her Black Bettie and my dad sang that song all the time. My brother used to have dwarf hamsters and my sister had a hedge hog and a ferret. We also have an African claw-toed water frog (one of the tadpoles my sister's 2nd grade class raised--she's about to start her freshman year of college), 2 birds, and a baby squirrell that my sister found and my parents took care of for a week before driving it to an animal rehabilitation/wildlife facility. When I volunteered at the Central Park Zoo, my parents would look forward to my bi-monthly texts about the animals. I would send pictures, or list the things that happened (snow monkeys having sex, tortoises having sex, a pigeon pooping on me). My parents appreciated it (not joking), and they are happy that they raised 3 kids who are ardent animal lovers. I've already decided that I want 2 dogs, a black female pug and a male German shepherd. There is a reason for the genders, a male shepherd, if trained properly, will be able to get along with a small female dog. Two male dogs will have dominance issues...same thing with two female dogs.)

But we never had cats. This is because my parents and I are allergic to them. (I'm also allergic to rabbits, small animals like that in general, and ESPECIALLY guinea pigs.) Though we have a German shepherd and if I was allergic to him, my parents might have kept him anyways.

There is another reason why we've never had cats. It's because they suck. Cats jump on EVERYTHING, have creepy eyes, no respect for you or your things, and they have supernatural powers. Seriously! They can jump ridiculously high.

I'm not denying the fact that cats can be nice and cute. I've just never been attracted to them. Cats generally aren't very affectionate.

Now for a history lesson. During the British Mandate, when Palestine (and after the 1948 war, Israel) was under British rule, there were a SHIT TON of mice. All over the place. So they brought in cats to take care of the mice. And it worked! But since there are no natural predators for the cats here, they've just kept breeding and getting all over the place. So there are tons of stray cats. And a lot of them are really gross-looking.

Except for one (and its sibling). It's a black and gray striped kitten. Not tiny, but still sort of small and delicate. It looks reasonably fed, not too skinny and not mangy. The cat lives on my street and sometimes I see it when I'm entering or leaving my apartment. I think the cat and I are friends. It's not afraid of me, at any rate. I'm not going to touch it--it's a wild animal--but if I can, I'll try to take a picture of Friend Cat and show you.

So that's that.

probably a bad idea

So today, Sarah, an intern from Australia who is super awesome, showed some of the other interns this really awesome hole-in-the-wall vegetarian Indian food place. It was super.

And now, for something I've been thinking about for awhile:

I once tried to make a current events-related blog. It was part of my internship last summer. I couldn't build up the momentum to keep it going.

I enjoy maintaining this sort of blog. it's fun, and I get to joke around a little with it. This blog also teaches me to self-edit. I debated the idea of having this be anonymous and not listing the URL on my Facebook account. That way, I could write whatever the hell I want. I had/have a blog that I started during my freshman year of high school. Every now and then, I like to read through it, to see how I've changed. I'm pretty sure that only some of my high school friends even know about it. This was especially helpful last year, when I got to write about starting college and doing all sorts of fun stuff for the first time. It was also refreshing, not having to censor myself.

This meant that I wrote about whatever I wanted. Which meant that I wasn't comfortable sharing the blog with anybody. I mean, it's not like I whore this blog out or anything--I figure that if people are interested in my life or are sufficiently bored, they'll read it. I like knowing that my friends/acquaintances/random strangers read this. It's oddly comforting. It also keeps me somewhat in line. Not that I should be posting secrets/really personal things on line anyways.

Every now and then though, I miss it. I really do. But I guess those sorts of things should go in a diary that I hide under my bed, or the general equivalent.

Yeah.

gastrointestinal fun

This post's title wasn't as vague as my titles tend to be. My appologies. In general, I like vague titles that mirror either my feelings at the time of writing the title, or the general mood of the post. This title is about my stomach and the pain it endured due to my stupidity.

Lesson learned: when buying lychees, don't buy them if you see lots of ants. Also, inspect them a little closer, and don't buy from the dude of a bunch of them have broken skin. I'm down a few bucks, but I'll survive until Thursday, the next time I'll be able to go to the shuk and satisfy my addiction.

Today I wrote an article. It just occured to me that I haven't gone into detail about my articles, and that I haven't posted the links. I sort of assumed that you guys are all Facebook friends with me and have therefore been getting my links. But I'll post them here anyways:

Article the First: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443696166&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Second: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443707101&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Third: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443717868&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Fourth: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443716603&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Fifth: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443738583&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Sixth: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443759189&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Seventh: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443800794&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Eigth:http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443820208&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Article the Ninth does not appear to be on the JPost website just yet, but it should be by tomorrow. Tomorrow and Tuesday, I will be staying late to do video editing, and Wednesday, I will be going to Ramat Gan (suburb of Tel Aviv) to report on the futsal (indoor soccer) finals. The finals don't start until 8:30pm, so I'll have a little time in Tel Aviv to grab dinner before heading over.

And then, as I've repeatedly said, Hilary is coming in on Thursday. So yeah.

weekends rock

I like the weekend because I don't have to do anything.

Except...psych! I'm supposed to write 2 articles today! I'll get on that. And as a reward, I'll go get sushi! But right now, I'm watching Charmed with my roommate. I think that this is a good idea.

I also did laundry today. Go me! Clean clothes! My next step is to clean my room and organize my clothing and newspapers. And wash my bedding. Then Hilary comes!

I love being in Israel. It makes me wonder what it would be like, living in a place that is warm year-round. When I was applying to colleges, my mom asked me if I wanted to apply to California schools. I didn't, mainly because I didn't think I could get into a good school, and they're expensive. The other reason, the one I told my mom, is that I wouldn't be able to be around happy people all the time. People are intense and sarcastic in NYC, and I really like that. As much as one of my dreams is to be able to live in a NYC apartment with friends after graudating, moving to a warmer climate--even moving to Israel--might be a good idea.

But yes, overall, I have been very happy here. I mean, it's been nice, a good vacation. Granted, things in Jerusalem are kind of fucked up, but while that would have bugged me 3 years ago, it's easier to take it in stride now. It's better that things aren't perfect, it means that they are real.

Plus, Jerusalem is better than Tel Aviv because Tel Aviv is humid as hell and I could never deal with that on a constant basis. Also, I'm not really a beach person, and I've never been to a club. I know...I'm living in a country where I'm legal, and I've barely drank. How ironic!

Speaking of alcohol...Thursday night, Sarah, one of the interns, had a birthday party! She provided cheese and crackers, the guests provided the wine. It was very nice! I was having a slightly tipsy conversation with Elan, another intern, and he told me I sort of look like Sarah Palin. That was very entertaining. I think it's my bangs and glasses...which is funny, because the bangs are relatively recent (end of February) and I'm only wearing my glasses because I only have 1 pair of contacts here, and I want to save them. Though I only have a month left now, so I guess I don't need to?

In short, things are going well here. But I am really looking forward to going back to NYC, even more than last year. The city has grown on me, a lot. I miss it, and I miss all of my friends back at school.

I love Israel, but I'm ready to go back to JTS/Columbia and get back in the middle of things.

super awesome

Time for an upbeat post!

I am in the middle of working on 2 articles, but I left the building shortly after 5pm today. This is good! I went to the shuk to buy more fruit...and then when I got home, I ODed on zatar bread, lychees, and mangos. Zomg! The fruit here is unreal.

And now for some superfab news...HILARY IS COMING TO VISIT ME! Her program is ending earlier than it was initially supposed to, and her parents gave her the green light to come! She will embark on the 12+ hour Odyssey that I underwent a month ago. We will have epic adventures.

I have done my fair share of touring around Israel, and Jerusalem in particular. But I have never really visited any of the Christian sites, so this will be new and exciting for the both of us!

Hilary is going to look at some guidebooks this weekend and come up with a list of things she wants to see/do. I'll try to make it possible to do everything. And I get to play tour guide!

I'm looking forward to writing up a "Tips for Visiting Israel" list with Hilary, because I'd love to hear her opinions. I wouldn't consider joining the Israel network on Facebook and I definitely wouldn't consider Jerusalem my home, because I'm a tourist. But I do know how to get around, especially in Jerusalem.

So this will be fun.

timing

I've passed the halfway point in my stay here. 6 weeks down, 5 to go.

Then 2 weeks until I go back to school.

I'm nervous for school to start again. Not really for academic reasons--though I do need to kick ass at Columbia next semester, to make up for last semester (which really wasn't that bad, but it still put a little dent in my GPA). I'm just afraid that I'm going to continue to be an emotional/mental wreck again, like I was for most of last year. I really think I'm going to need to check out the JTS counseling services, because I need to. I think. I mean, I'm paying for it, at any rate. Also, I don't want to pay for more medication...I'm on enough as it is, thanks to my ridiculous allergies.

So in short...

Dear Sarah in 2 months time,

Please don't fuck it up.

Thanks

perhaps

I might have finally gotten the hang of uploading the video footage! Or I totally fucked up and am going to hear about it tomorrow. But I've really been trying. Really.

Today, an Orthodox man averted his eyes and covered them when he was walking past me. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and knee-length shorts. I know, I'm such a skank. There is religious tension in Jerusalem. At the same time, it's a great city, and I feel that it might be the best place to live in Israel. It's complicated, but whereas it made me angry three years ago, I think I'm coming around now. In this case, it's an instance of growing emotional maturity (even though I try my best not to show it), as well as getting over things from the past.

I think I'm going to get in touch with a Nefesh B'Nefesh person when I get back to New York. But then I got to thinking about how much I love New York City, and how I want to stay there for grad school, maybe rent an apartment with some friends. That would be nice. We could have champagne parties on occasion and play video games. And I might clean on occasion. I know that whole thing sounded like I'm a total dude (I'd have to substitute the champagne for beer), but that's only for you poor deprived folks who don't know how righteously awesome video games are. When I get back home (to IL), I'm going to reintroduce myself to Guitar Hero World Tour. Because I can.

Today I had an awesome talk about religion. There was also a hardcore discussion about a Jew's right to Israel if they don't believe in religion. Those things reminded me of what I used to really love about Judaism, what I was so interested in before my last relationship, which was ALL about religion. That really took it out of me. And I know it's totally lame to be all "I was in love with a boy and we connected over our shared passion for Judaism, but then we drifted apart religiously, so I needed to take a break from thinking about Judaism because it made me think of him," but unfortunately, it might be true. I also deleted most of my Rush collection from my iPod. And my Matisyahu, except that Matisyahu isn't good, and Rush is fantastic. But I think losing touch with religion is more of a loss than part of a music collection. That's more replaceable.

I had been coming around last semester. I was going to Kesher and even though I didn't really like the service (it was nice, just not for me), it was better than nothing. I had been thinking about going to Koach. But then the financial aid stuff happened and I just got completely lost. That first week, I think I cried at least once everyday. And that's really not me. I am an emotional rock. Sure, I have crazy moods (mostly since college started) and am all over the place. Sure, I'll get in huge funks (mostly last year...thank you, sophomore slump), but from March 2nd(ish) until april 22nd totally sucked balls. And the worst part was that I knew I was totally caught up in it and that way worse stuff happens to people. That worse stuff has happened to me. But aside from relationships, I've never had something I've worked so hard for potentially get so fucked up and feel so powerless.

When I found out that I got financial aid and was able to stay at JTS/Columbia, I was relieved. I was also pissed. I'd gotten into the University of Illinois' School of Music, which is pretty damn good. I'd gotten into the Marching Illini. I was prepared to build another life for myself at another school. I was EXCITED to do this. And then I found out that I didn't need to. That all the worrying and crying that I had been doing to fill a void was unnecessary.

Part of me thought about transferring, even though I didn't need to.

I needed to get all of that off of my chest. But yeah, I feel ready to get involved with Jewish life at Columbia. Excited, even. Though CUMB will obviously still be huge for me. And...I think that being sad, thinking about my potential future of living in NYC as a Real Person is good. And normal. I still don't know if I'm going to make aliyah. I'm not yet ready to give a definite answer. I still have two more years of college. But I think I'm ready to start exploring my options.

Lately, I've been getting angry. Not really at anyone, just...angry. It happens sometimes. I almost wish that I had someone to be angry at, so I could get rid of all the aggression that's been building up. I can't punch people anymore, like I used to. You think I'm joking. I'm not. And I realize how emotionally stunted I was. I mean, I did this in high school. When I was a senior, one of my French horns said, "Sarah, I want to learn how to punch hard like you." (He deserved it.) So I don't do that anymore. Which makes it hard, when I feel inferior. I feel like if I were a guy, I could deal with it better, or have a better outlet. But I'm not, and I don't. Punching a punching bag doesn't make things better. Pillows also do not work.

It's funny. My parents joke around that I'm the "parental supervision" in the house, that I'm the adult. And I really think that they do treat me like an adult. An adult that is their daughter, but still, an adult. They trust me. I'm sensible, I'm practical. Sure, I say and do weird things, but I also say and to the right things, when I need to. It's a lot of pressure. And yet, knowing that they don't need to worry about me in the way that they worry about my sister (and my brother, to a lesser extent) feels good. But the thing that I realized is that they've been treating me this way for awhile. Sure, when I was in high school, I had a "curfew" (well, I didn't actually...I made sure that we never discussed it), or I couldn't do whatever I wanted. But there wasn't much that I wanted to do. That changed once I got to college, but my parents weren't there, so it was fine. But being the "parental supervision" (my mom wrote it in quotes in an email she sent to me, because she knew that's how I'd refer to it) feels weird. Frankly, even though I don't hit people like I used to, I feel like I've regressed since coming to college. I make lots of stupid decisions and do lots of sketchy things. Maybe not sketchy by general standards, but sketchy by my anal standards.

I mean, I know this is part of becoming independent and growing up. And I'm glad that I'm fucking up a bit as I do it. However, I'm not so sure if I learned from freshman year's mistakes and changed during my sophomore year.

I hope that I make a whole new set of fucked up mistakes next year. Because last year was a whole lot of "I know this is bad and I'm going to regret it. I've done this all before. But I can't get out of this rut. I'll put it off." In a lot of ways, I've seen junior year as when things would be different. It's weird, but true. Not epically different. Not fabulous. I've just had this feeling, ever since...I don't know, the middle/end of the first semester of freshman year that there's going to be something about junior year. That something is going to happen.

Hopefully it's good. I think I've earned it.

I can has updates plz?

One Week, Internship Style! (to the tune of "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies)

It's been one week since the beginning,

when I started interning at JPost.

Five articles I've turned in:

Australia and Ben Gurion and Tel Aviv.

Three days until the weekend:

I'm seeing Bruno, sleeping in past 8am.

Doing this all again five times.

Holy shit! This repitition is fucking crazy!

The internship is going well. I am not a veteran intern! Whoo hoo! Today I went to Ramat Gan, which is a suburb of Tel Aviv, for a press conference that Jason Lezak (Olympic swimmer who gave up participating in the FIFA World Championships in favor of competing in Maccabiah) was holding. This was my second time in a press room. It was cool. The whole thing was insanely awesome...except for the fact that I had to leave my apartment by 8am in order to make the 10:30 press conference. Alas. And I'm slowly getting better at structuring my articles! My intros still need a little work...but I have 5.5 more weeks, so I'm not too worried.

I'm exhausted. I was too tired to go to the grocery store today...I also got home around 9pm. Ugh. Hopefully that won't be the case tomorrow!

(Sidenote: When I was little, I thought that the word "barenaked" was dirty and I was uncomfortable saying the band's name. Look how far I've come!)